THEMATIC TRENDS IN GERMAN EDUCATIONAL-PSY CHOLOGY - AN ANALYSIS OF PUBLICATIONS IN 6 JOURNALS BETWEEN 1975 AND 1993

The publications of six educational psychological journals between 197 5 and 1993 are analysed as to thematic trends, groups of individuals s tudied and research specifications. Most frequently, the publications were on learning and teaching. Counselling and intervention, developme nt and socialization as well as diagnostics were dealt with to compara ble degrees, the latter significantly decreasing in number during the time period-under investigation. Articles on the fundamentals of educa tional psychology increased considerably. Among the groups of individu als studied, those related to the school context dominated, although d ecreasingly so, while the family and special groups like migrants rece ived growing attention. Research was primarily based on cross-sectiona l studies and descriptive and ex-post-facto designs; however, the long itudinal approach gained significantly. Comparing the six journals, di fferent profiles became apparent. Over the two decades investigated, t he total number of publications per year remained unaltered, yet indic ating a lower productivity in educational psychology as compared to ne ighbouring scientific fields.